No Oly - started PT

Well I decided against doing the Oly in two weeks and feel pretty good about the decision. I also went to the doc about my sore shoulders and went to a physical therapist (PT) for the first time. I'm glad I did that too. My left shoulder hurts more than I was admitting.

Funny story at the PT. She did a bunch of range of motion tests and strength tests. During one of the strength tests, both shoulders popped VERY loudly. It didn't hurt but freaked her out. She was like "Whoa" and immediately let up pressure. I said you mean they aren't supposed to do that? She said not so spectacularly. You could hear that down the hall. I thought it was funny describing shoulder popping as spectacular. Anyway, after the range and strength tests she gave me some stretches to do. I didn't realize how sore they were until I saw the PT. I go back Monday and hopefully start working on strength.

It's been 5 weeks since I've been to the pool. Not really a big deal since my tri season is pretty much over. There is one more cool looking tri at Rend Lake October 3rd, but that is the date of a 1/2 marathon in St. Charles MO that I signed up for. I'm going to try to PR the 1/2 (it's my 3rd half). To do so, I'm going to build up to 30+ miles per week (mpw). A lot of people say that to get any real gains in running you need to run at least that much. I hit 25.3 miles this week. That is just over my peak week from the 1/2 I did in April.

The weather should be cooler and the course is flat for the 1/2, so if I can stick with my training and not get hurt, a PR should be within reach. I need to find someone to pace off of. Last 1/2, my friend had a garmin and ran about the pace I wanted to run. We'll see. Yesterday I ran for an hour and 20 minutes and lost 5 pounds even taking in 16 ounces of water. With this heat and humidity, the fluid loss calculator says I need to take in about a quart of water every thirty minutes to stay even. That is way to much to drink while running and you really don't need to stay even for a 1/2 marathon. I've read losing up to 2% of your body weight is fine.

The key for me will be to keep going to bed early so I can get the majority of my runs in before work.